Afterlife

One – Shot

'Don't wait until it's too late to tell someone how you love, how much you care because when their gone, no matter how loud you shout and cry, they won't hear you anymore.'

- Unknown

Author – ScarletBloodDoll

Date Started/Date Ended – November 16th, 2011 – November 20th, 2011

Category – Criminal Minds

Rating – PG

Warnings – Male Relationship, Spoilers for 07.06 'Epilogue'

Pairings – Doctor Spencer Reid/Derek Morgan

Disclaimer – ScarletBloodDoll does not own the premise or character of Criminal Minds (CBS & Jeff Davis) and is a non – profit effort.

"C'mon guys! Gentle lights, shadowy figures…those are lights in the emergency room and the doctors hovering over the patient. We all know that! No one actually sees the afterlife." The last two words were delivered with a mocking air with just a bit of sarcasm.

"I did." A voice from above his right shoulder drew all eyes in the room to the young Doctor, mostly in disbelief. Taking a deep breath, Doctor Spencer Reid steadied himself and avoided looking into the shocked and concerned gaze of his partner. "Before Tobias Hankle resuscitated me, I had that exact experience and I wasn't in an emergency room." His eyes quickly flitted about the room, only to be momentarily stopped and held by eyes that swirled with a sea of emotion. Suppressing a shudder, "I still can't," he murmured. Derek Morgan had to look away and focus on a spot of their team leaders' shoulder; he was hurt.

"Kid, you never told me that." With a noncommittal shrug, he turned away. Sensing the immediate discomfort within the room, Emily turned the attention to herself. For the remainder of the case the young Doctor made it a point to stay as far away from his partner as possible, seeking refuge within the protective bubble of Emily or JJ.

02:28 a.m.

"I'm sorry," whispered words were nearly drowned in the storm that raged with a vengeance outside the protective walls of their home, yet they seemed to echo in the dark. For what seemed like days Morgan and Clooney sat in the seat of the bay window of their bedroom, overlooking the city. The older man had sat lost in thought until the golden retriever began to obnoxiously thump his tail, whine, and gaze at the landing and then at his owner.

Upon their return to the BAU headquarters, Hotch had graciously given them the weekend off barring any serious emergency but only with a promise to finish their most pressing paperwork. By the time Morgan had looked up from the sea of files, he was surprised to find the clock a few minutes after from 11:00 p.m. Rubbing his tired eyes he began to pack up his things and glanced around the bullpen, calling out his goodbyes to Hotch; Rossi and JJ had left earlier while Emily and Reid were nowhere to be found. Grabbing the last of his case files to finish at home, he made his way down the hall to bid farewell to the Computer Goddess of the BAU only to find he couldn't have stepped more than a foot of her door before the door quickly flew open and she stepped out.

"You hidin' a body in there baby girl?" He had teasingly asked her, attempting to peer behind her.

She quickly shut the door and leaned against it. "Nope! You see nothing here!"

"Uh – huh." It was obvious to the both of them that neither believed that statement.

"Anyways, if you got a spare moment this weekend we would love to have you over for dinner."

"You cookin'?"

"You know it. Pretty boy can hardly use the microwave." He stepped forward and gave her a one arm hug. "Speaking of which, you had better send pretty boy back home to me in one piece." Garcia had the decency to flush red – the only confirmation he needed that she had been caught.

At that time, he decided to not to push the issue and decided that he himself needed to come to terms with the fact that at one time or another he had lost the love of his life to something he couldn't control and something he wasn't quite sure he could be prepared for.

For the next three hours he had sat, waited, contemplated, and accepted that he could not change the past but fight hard at every turn to keep what was his.

"I'm sorry." Clooney eagerly jumped off the seat and bounded over to the figure in the doorway. Morgan had chuckled as Clooney insisted at poking and prodding Reid; his hair stuck to his face, his messenger bag clutched to his chest, and he anxiously chewed away at his bottom lip.

"You have nothing to be sorry for." Morgan shook his head.

"I should have told you."

Morgan found he couldn't find anything to say and simply nodded before turning his gaze back to the skyline with a deep sigh. Reid dropped his messenger back at the foot of the bed, just like he did every night and padded over to the window seat. He nudged his long legs between Morgan's before settling down on his chest facing him, one arm wrapped around his back and the other intertwined with his. The pair sat like this for a while; Reid listening to the other's heartbeat, Morgan combing his fingers through his hair, Clooney sat on the floor rather perturbed that his spot had been taken.

"I don't know what I would have done had I lost you." Morgan murmured into Reid's hair. "I suppose I did technically loose you," he whispered more to himself than anything.

Spencer didn't know what to say if anything. "I'm here now." To enhance his point, he snuggled deeper into his partner's strong chest.

"Promise you won't go anywhere?"

"I'll try to avoid those shadowy figures and bright lights for as long as possible." Clooney happily thumped his tail.

Fin

ScarletBloodDoll

Author's Note –

Reviews are appreciated!